The last loud crack of the chisel on the ice echoed in the quiet room. In a short moment of panic, Coral glanced at David to see if he’d heard. No, he was still sleeping.

Pulling the chisel away from the wall, Coral stuck her head through the new hole, then her shoulder, soon followed my her other shoulder. Once she could stick her hands out in front of her, she pushed against the ice walls of the cube and managed to wriggle her way out of the hole.

Doing a silent victory dance, Coral tiptoed to the tall doors, and opening them a crack to see in anyone was there, she started for the long hallway of rooms, checking the doorknobs for the promised silver ribbon.

At last she came to the right door, and knocked as quietly as she could.

Arianna had been asleep, and she answered the door dressed in the shimmery night gown that showed she was a subject of the queen. When the sisters saw each other, their faces lit up, and Coral was quickly and enthusiastically herded into the room.

“You did it!” Arianna exclaimed in a whisper.

“Yes, thanks to you,” answered Coral. “So what do we do now?”

“Well, Isabella asked me to go with her to visit her brother, Aaron. I’ve agreed, and have already written to him, telling him of our plans–he will help us. I will hide you in a trunk–we’ll be staying a couple days, of course–and then hide you in my guest room. When it comes time to leave, I will tell Isabella that I resign from her service, and we will both stay with King Aaron as cooks, or housekeepers, or whatever.” Arianna sucked in a deep breath. “How does that sound?”

Coral was, frankly, stunned. Stunned that her little sister had come up with what was really a brilliant plan, and also because she’d actually had a crush on Aaron, back when everything was normal.

“Uh…good. Great plan. When do we leave?”

“Early tomorrow morning. But first…” Arianna pulled a life-size ice sculpture that looked exactly like Coral. Clothes had been painted on and hair and a face, also shoes. “Will it fit through the hole in the wall?”

“Yeah, I think,” Coral stuttered, eyes wide with awe. “But how did you make that?”

Arianna blushed. “Isabella has been teaching me ice magic, so I tried my best. It isn’t really that much like you, but the walls will distort it. And, you know I’ve always liked painting–”

Coral jumped into the laundry basket and closed the lid, and Arianna jumped into bed, closing her eyes, and appearing to be asleep.

There was a knock at the door. When nobody answered, Isabella opened the door herself. “Come on, wake up, Arianna.” She nudged her with her finger and the girl stirred. “We have to make an early start, it seems.”

“David? What are you doing here?” asked Coral, watching as Isabella shot ice from her palm, creating a cube, like Coral’s.

“I can’t speak to you,” David mumbled.

“Why not?”

David didn’t reply this time. In his head, he pictured Coral’s reaction if he told her about the incident with Arianna. It wouldn’t be a good one.

Coral put off her questions when she realized he wasn’t going to answer. And, apart from a gruff, “Have to go now.” as he was put inside the cube, David didn’t speak for the rest of the day.

A few minutes later, Arianna came rushing up to Coral’s cube, a mysterious bundle under her arm. “Hi. I’m getting you out,” she said to Coral quickly, moving to the side of the cube that David couldn’t see. She unwrapped the package she carried, and lifted a chisel to the ice wall.

The ice chisel broke through (almost catching Coral’s arm) and Arianna smiled at her accomplishments. “Here, take the chisel. You keep working on the hole. Once you’re out of it, go straight to my chamber–it’ll have a silver ribbon on the doorknob. You may not finish tonight, but I’ll be waiting.” She paused for breath. “I love you, Coral.”

“You too,” answered Coral, still stunned by the ice chisel.

Arianna smiled and left, pulling one of the silver ribbons from her hair.

Coral worked on the hole for a few hours, and soon she could fit her head and a shoulder through, all the while thinking happy thoughts.

They heard a cold laugh from behind them, and looked up to see Queen Isabella herself. Arianna and Coral stood and glared at their former friend.

“Hello,” Coral said curtly.

Isabella smiled. “I didn’t know if you still remembered me,” she said, “Maybe I should add more ice to my daily outfit. What do you think, Arianna?”

“I think you’re cold-hearted enough already,” she spat.

“Fine. I’ll talk to Coral. What do you think?”

“You can add ice until you’re as fat as an ice cube for all I care,” she half-snarled.

“Hmm,” Isabella mused, “I see I’ve deprived you of your good fashion sense. I apologize. I didn’t mean to go that far.”

Coral laughed without humour.

“Oh, when are you going to learn that joining me is the best thing that could ever happen to you? You saw David when he first came here, and look at him now. Can’t you see the difference?”

“Yeah, he’s even more annoying now,” Arianna grumbled.

The queen sighed. “I suppose there’s no chance of you joining then, Coral?”

“Get the thought out of your brain right now, or I’ll have to remore it myself,” Coral answered, which Isabella took as a “no”.

“Arianna?”

The younger Tellam hesitated, and Coral began to worry if her sister was thinking of actually carrying out her rediculous plan. “Say no,” she whispered.

Arianna paused for a few more moments, then announced, “Actually, I think you’re right.”

Isabella smiled almost warmly and called for David to unlock the cube, while Arianna assured her sister that she would free her as soon as she could. “Call me Issy!” the queen said, smiling, as she touched Arianna’s back with one hand, “Come, let’s find you some suitable clothes of a princess of ice.”

David sighed. “You’re a fool, Coral. Go lick your ice cube.” He exited with Isabella and Arianna who glanced back at Coral apologetically.

Coral glared at the floor of her prison, and began licking the remaining scraps of food from it in angry silence.

***

Coral awoke with a start.

“Psst! Psst! Coral! Wake up! It’s me!”

She sat up and faced the voice coming from the other side of the ice wall. “Arianna?” she gasped in surprise, staring at her new sister, “What on Earth have they done to you?”

Arianna now wore a tight silver dress that shimmered in the moonlight and pooled at her feet. On her hands she wore silver glittering gloves and a diamond ring on her middle finger. Her hair was pulled up in a bun with curly tendrils framing her face. Her face! The skin between her eyelashes and her eyebrows had been filled with sparkles, and around her neck hung a diamond necklace, that looked as fagile as an icicle.

Arianna looked down at herself. “This is who Isabella wants me to be. I can’t argue with her now,” she said, then, seeing her sister’s expression, added, “not that I like the outfit myself.”

Coral sighed, and said, “Look, are you gonna rescue me or not?”

A look of confusion passed over Arianna’s face, before she understood and corrected, “Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I can’t right now.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Unlikely. I have to earn her trust, so she doesn’t get suspicious. Once that happens, I can get you out, no problem. But I promise you this: You won’t stay here more than a week.”

“But why can’t you just sneak here like this tomorrow and steal the keys from David?” Coral asked.

“It’s complicated,” Arianna said, dodging the question. She paused, as if she’d heard something, then continued, “I need to go. But don’t worry. We’ll be free of this place soon.” She stood to go, and Coral slumped down on the icy floor.

Imagine yourself a pea. Now imagine being thrown in the garbage because you have not been eaten with the rest of the dinner you were part of.

The garbage can would be rather dark, wouldn’t you say? You would be very, very depressed in there.

This is how Arianna and Coral Tellam felt while they paced the length of their prison of ice.

“Isabella, a traitor,” Arianna thought aloud. “I can’t believe it. All these years we trusted her, and now she–” Arianna stopped when she heard a sickening crunch and a cry of pain, mixed with the fury that blasted out from Coral.

Poor Coral, thought Arianna, Isabella’s transformation affects her the most. She decided to leave her sister alone for a while, and stared out at Coral’s ex-best friend’s new home.

Everything was white and silver. The palace seemed like nobody had lived in it for a long time. The place was so lifeless. Ice sculptures dominated the room, icicles placed around them to prevent contact. Arianna cringed as her eyes passed her least-favourite statue.

It was a woman, tall and brave with long hair and confident eyes. Her mouth was twisted up in a victorious smile.

Arianna liked the woman, but it always sent chills down her spine when she looked at the rest of the sculpture.

Behind the woman, a horrible creature was advancing toward her, it’s mouth full on razor sharp fangs, saliva dripping from them…and it’s eyes! Although they were no more than ice, carved in a savage way, the eyes appeared to be red in the light of the dawn. The beast was about twice as tall as the woman, if not more, and it was hunched over her, as if at any moment a bit of drool would fall on the woman’s head and she would look into the jaws of her doom. No matter how strong she was, she could never defeat something that terrible.

Isabella had turned the sculpture so it faced directly into the ice cube prison, and Arianna, for a frightening second met the hungry gaze of the beast, then looked away, horrified.

“How long?” Coral asked, pouting.

Her sister looked to the great ice clock that hung on the wall of the ice palace. “It’s 7:15. Forty-five minutes till breakfast,” Arianna answered.

Reader, you must imagine the garbage can again, and your pea self. Now imagine being poured into a trough and fed to pigs, while being squashed up with various pieces of mush. You would not be happy.

The thought of breakfast might’ve been a good thing, except that the food the Tellams were given was about the quality of pig slop leftovers.

“I’m gonna try to sleep,” Coral announced, “Wake me up when it’s time for breakfast.” She lay on the cold floor in a corner and closed her eyes, holding her damaged hand to her chest.

Arianna sighed and sat down, looking out the clear wall of the ice cube, and out the wall of the ice palace facing West, where she knew she would someday return.

***

Exactly forty minutes later, Arianna crossed the cage to her sister and lightly shook her shoulder, saying, “Wake up or you’ll be swimming in your food.”

Coral groaned, but rose. “Time?”

“7:55.”

Coral sighed half-annoyed. “He’s late.”

“No! Not late. I’m here, have no fear, bringing food into your sphere!” sang a too-familiar voice from the corridor, and David stepped in, holding a set of keys.

“We live in a cube,” Coral grumbled, then muttered something about not knowing the difference between geometric shapes.

“And you thought that I wouldn’t show up. Ha!” He danced to the cage, whistling, and selected a key. “Line up, little birdies!” he sang, and Arianna and Coral trudged in front of the door, the only exit.

David unlocked the door, and they walked out slowly. He blew a whistle and shut the door just in time, as yesterday’s leftovers poured in through a gap in the ceiling of the ice cube.

Once the flow of scraps stopped, David opened the door carefully, and watched with glee as Arianna and Coral waded in through the waste and began to eat the disgusting meal.

Just before he closed the door, he called, “You know, Arianna, it’s never too late to join Queen Isabella.”

Whoo! Today, June 30th, 2010, is the day the movie Eclipse comes out in theatres! Eclipse is the third in a series of four, based on the books by Stephanie Meyer. (In case you don’t know, the saga goes Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn) Last night, I heard they showed a midnight viewing (for all night owls). A few friends of mine went, but I didn’t go because it would be way too crowded and loud. I’ll wait for the DVD/Blu-Ray.

This blog has been a mix of my personal happenings (e.g. junior high) and my professional stuff, (e.g. my books) which can be a little bit confusing–for both author and reader. But be confused no longer! I am going to be separating my work from my enjoyment, by making another page just for my writing, and keeping the rest of my posts on another page. And I hope this change will help readers to be less confused, and not more so.

I think everybody reading this post is like, “Oh, been there, done that” but read through it all anyway.

So, nearly everyone in my grade had the junior high frenzy. I think we all know which school we’re going to, but we’re all totally flipping out about the first week. Everyone says something like this: “Oh, the first week’s a bit hectic, but the rest of the year’s fine,” but what about the first week?! Most people who are past junior high don’t mention much about the first week of junior high, but that’s the part where we need the most guidance! So any post-junior high (middle school in some places) people, if you could supply a bit of support by commenting that’d be great.

Okay, I have to make a big decision: should I continue my previous series, Sarah Sing? (See category “My Books,” for more information.) I made about two, and part of a third, but decided to stop. Now, I’m wondering if I should start it up again because I was planning on having six in the short 30-page-each book series before.